The invention relates to a method for cutting open the stomach of a bird, especially the stomach of a turkey and to an apparatus for carrying out said method, comprising a cutting means and positioning means for positioning the stomach relative to the cutting means.
While processing birds for obtaining products to be sold one of the steps comprises cutting open the stomach which previously has been eviscerated from the bird in a way know per se. After the stomach has been cut open its contents are removed and, using a so called stomach peeler, the stomach membrane is separated from the stomach.
In a known method and apparatus for cutting open the stomach of a bird the cutting means comprises a rotating knife. The stomach is guided along the rotating knife through the positioning means in such a way that a cut is made along the entire length of a stomach wall, after which the stomach as it were may be folded open to a planar position. In this open position the contents of the stomach can be removed and the stomach can be supplied to the stomach peeler.
Such a known method and apparatus, in which the cutting means comprises a rotating knife, have several disadvantages. The setting of the rotating knife should occur extremely precisely in order to avoid that the cut made by the rotating knife not only extends in one stomach wall but also in the opposite stomach wall. In this respect it is complicating that the stomachs of different birds have different dimensions.
Especially when cutting open the stomach of turkeys the application of a rotating knife offers another disadvantage. It is not uncommon that turkeys swallow pebbles or alike. These pebbles reach the stomach and the rotating knife cannot be prevented from hitting these pebbles. As a result the knife quickly gets blunt and has to be sharpened or has to be replaced by a new knife.